World Hello Day
In 1973, Brian and Michael McCormack created World Hello Day as a reaction to the Yom Kippur War (what is this reference to YK war?). College students at the time, the brothers started a…
These Lights We Kindle
While the mitzvah of lighting the menorah is an outward-focused mitzvah – the menorah is lit in a window or doorway – it is also an opportunity for personal reflection on the deeper…
The Fast of the Fifth of Tevet
Aside from Yom Kippur, which is mentioned in the Torah, all the other fasts on the Jewish calendar are rabbinic in nature and find their rabbinic source in a single scriptural verse:…
Make it a “Great Shabbat”
Celebrate Shabbat Hagadol by learning more about Passover traditions and rituals. On this Shabbat HaGadol, the Haftarah, drawn from the final book of the prophets, Malachi describes that…
Lions and Jerusalem Day
The original city of Jerusalem, conquered by King David from the Jebusites, is now known as Ir David, situated in the Silwan neighborhood, south of the Temple Mount. Over time, Jerusalem…
No Holiday as Joyous
Tu b’Av (The Fifteenth of Av), which is today, is no longer the well-known holiday on the Jewish calendar that it was in ancient times. In fact, the Talmud states that: “There were no…
Kiss and Make Up
Today, August 25th, is the anonymously anointed “Kiss and Make Up Day.” These modern “holidays” have little historic meaning, but Jewish Treats would be remiss in not noting that the…
9/11 and Jewish History
The attack on the continental U.S. homeland on September 11, 2001 changed the entire complexion of the United States. Almost 200 years had passed since the last attack on the U.S.…
Rosh Hashana 5784-2023
“Actions and their Implications” (updated and revised from Rosh Hashana 5766-2005) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The celebration of the Jewish New Year is entirely unlike the secular New…